Us politics

A Russian woman has been charged with infiltrating US political organisations at the direction of a senior Kremlin official.Maria Butina, a Russian citizen who lives in Washington DC, has appeared in court after being arrested in the US capital on 15 July.The US justice department said in a statement that the 29-year-old is accused of working "at the direction of a high-level official in the Russian government who was previously a member of the legislature of the Russian Federation and later became a top official at the Russian Central Bank".This took place "from as early as 2015 and continuing through at least February 2017", the statement said.It said the official was sanctioned by the US treasury department's office of foreign assets control in April this year. Advertisement The justice department says Butina allegedly entered and resided in the US on a student visa without officially disclosing the fact that she was acting as an agent of Russian government, as required … [Read more...] about Russian woman charged with infiltrating US political groups under Kremlin direction

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested in London and faces extradition charges to the US. Assange is due in court this morning. The Guardian is running live coverage of all the Assange developments here. This blog will focus on US political news away from Assange. Today: •Donald Trump is meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in this afternoon. The pair will have a working lunch, a day after Kim Jong-un vowed to deliver a “serious blow” to hostile countries he accused of using sanctions to bring the regime “to its knees”. Trump’s second summit with North Korea over denuclearization ended in failure in February. •Democratic candidates for president are hitting the trail , with Kamala Harris and Rep Eric Swalwell out and about in Iowa, and Joe Biden speaking at an opioid crisis forum at 3pm. Julian Castro is appearing on a CNN town hall this evening. •Mike Pence is due to visit Customs and Border Protection Border patrol … [Read more...] about Trump to meet South Korean president amid new North Korea tensions – US politics live

We live in an infantile atmosphere where contempt for politicians is a more tradeable currency than Panini stickers were in the playground and where the green ink letter has been lifted off the newspaper spike and turned into an online art form. At a time when anti-politics is not just a powerful message but a dangerous one, too, that epic misjudgment on Wednesday night had to be the most cynical and unworthy speech a prime minister could deliver. Theresa May’s “I’m on your side” TV address set a new low in the them-and-us politics that has produced Trump, Brexit and rampaging yellow vest armies. The same forces have left our own country, Scotland, a bitter polity, Trying to rally the public against politicians at a time when Commons authorities are warning MPs not to travel alone for fear of being attacked is a desperate act from a failed PM. The only saving grace of a broadcast that shamed the Downing Street podium is that May is so inept a communicator that … [Read more...] about Them-and-us politics that produced Trump and Brexit makes for a dangerous future

WASHINGTON – Even when analysts called her race a “toss-up,” Abigail Spanberger said she never doubted she would win her bid to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Sure, no woman had ever served the central Virginia district, and it’s been in Republican hands since 1971. But to Spanberger, who grew up there, it felt as though there had been “an awakening.” “It was this ever-sort-of-unfolding thing,” she told USA TODAY. “There were protests, there were vigils. When the travel ban came out, there were people in the street. “I participated in everything,” she said at a coffee shop in Washington, D.C., during a break in new-member orientation. Spanberger beat the incumbent Rep. Dave Brat by 2 percentage points. In hindsight, her win makes sense, given the dynamics of this election. Well over half of the winners in House districts the Democrats flipped were women. Democrats like Spanberger made … [Read more...] about ‘Awakening’: Abigail Spanberger’s House win illustrates the shift of US politics in ‘year of the badass woman’

Washington (CNN)Politics showed up this year on the covers of all sorts of publications, from tabloids and magazines about tech and business, to pornography (Stormy Daniels covered Penthouse's May/June issue). Of all the ways Americans get their news, print is the least popular, according to a Pew survey released this week. Just 7% said it's their preferred method, but the images created by editorial designers, photographers and cartoonists had a reach larger than just the subscribers who saw their work in their mailboxes or on their doorstep. The images peeked at us from grocery store checkout lines and populated our social media feeds. This is the story of 2018 as told through nine magazine and newspaper images, and the stories behind them: Tipping Point The Week, April 6 View this post on Instagram Here's the latest cover of our magazine, featuring the NRA's strongest opponent. #nra #nationalrifleassociation #guns #guncontrol #parkland #marjorystonemandouglas #activism … [Read more...] about Magazine covers tell the story of US politics in 2018